Bye, Miami Music Week. Hello, Orlando w/ STRFKR and Casiokids

March 25, 2011

Yes, I shall forgo Miami Music Week, committing the ultimate sacrilege for a Miami-based music journalist. Thankfully, as a blogger under my own command, I no longer fit that description. I get the freedom to flee the dance music-crazed crowds and head north for the dancey-type neo-psychedelic electro-rock of bands like Starfucker and Casiokids who are currently touring together and making several stops in Florida, though not in Miami. Here is the bands’ Florida itinerary:

Fri., Mar. 25 @ Crowbar in Tampa, Florida

Sat., Mar. 26 @ BackBooth in Orlando, Florida

Sun., Mar. 27 @ Jack Rabbits in Jacksonville, Florida

I will head out this afternoon to be in Orlando for the BackBooth show the following evening. But I won’t only be there to see the show and record a couple of videos (see my YouTube channel). This marks the first time I will have the opportunity to produce exclusive interviews for this blog, as both bands have agreed to sit down for face-to-face interviews.

I plan to write proper stories, not just do the Q&A laziness. Granted, I can understand straight Q&As can be insightful as a supplement to stories, as I have often shared the old back-and-forths from my years as a music journalist in conjunction with links to published stories on this very blog (see my archives). I do hope to provide the Q&A portions of these up-coming stories in the form of uncut audio files of the interviews, but these guys indeed have stories to tell…

Starfucker’s tour has so far been rife with struggles, including a broke down van they needed to tow to one of the venues with the group crammed in the front seat of said wrecker. Then there was the arrest of guitarist/turntablist Ryan Biornstad at SXSW… before a show, no less. Besides, it was was love-at-first-listen when I heard their 7-inch single for “Julius.”

Casiokids are a Norwegian band and labelmates with Starfucker. Since they hit the scene in 2006 with the oddly experimental album Fuck Midi (please pardon the language of this post), they have since transcended the gimmick of being a Casio-based band with more prominent guitar work and proper lyrics (albeit still in the native Norwegian tongue). OK, so they probably won’t make the big time like A-Ha, but they create some catchy music.

So, stay tuned. In the wake of Miami Music Week, which will cap off this weekend with the pricey and sold-out Ultra Music Festival (a music festival I have never even attended*), I am still at it, and out to give you some exclusive scoops. Note: if anyone has a burning question they want to ask either of these bands’ members, do share in the comments below.

Here’s Starfucker’s new video, until then:

And one of the latest from Casiokids:

*Back in the 70s, I always related to Johnny Fever in WKRP in Cincinnati and his “Disco sucks” credo.

(Copyright 2011 by Hans Morgenstern. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)